The Montreal Canadiens currently sit at 47 contracts out of a maximum allowable of 50. That number might go down a notch with players such as Mathieu Perreault and Tyler Pitlick unlikely to return next season as they become unrestricted free agents.
The maximum amount of players in which a team can hold their rights is 90. This is called a reserve list. Players who are 18 or 19 years of age, who have a contract but have played in less than 11 games don’t have their contract counted towards the limit of 50. The Canadiens currently have a total of 75 players in which they hold their rights.
With contract slots opening up, this can get a few prospects excited at the idea of someday playing the NHL sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be in the cards for a few of these prospects, at least not with the Canadiens.